Am I a citizen of Jammu and Kashmir? Dr Shabir Choudhry

Am I a citizen of Jammu and Kashmir? Dr Shabir Choudhry

Issue of my ID card is in Islamabad High Court. After a long and hard struggle, my attorney has managed to get a hearing date which is tomorrow, Monday 10 October 2016.

Our plea is that Pakistan has no right to deprive me of my ID Card, which is fundamental to life in Pakistan and in Pakistani Administered Kashmir. In fact, it evidence of one’s existence, and without the ID card many basic rights are denied; and one is vulnerable to intimidation of secret agencies.

I heard the view they are taking is that Dr Shabir Choudhry is not a Kashmiri citizen; or his papers are not authentic.

This means I have to prove that I am a citizen of Jammu and Kashmir; and that no papers were fake (My original ID card was made in 1975). In practise, it means the authorities want to drag on the process.

About six months ago, a message was given by a man who is close to them that I should apologise (for what I am doing to expose their Kashmir policy); Stop TV programmes, promise to be a ‘good boy’ in future, and no more political work challenging their policies. After that everything will be OK.

I refused to do this by saying I have not done anything wrong, so no apology is due.

A blunt message was, ‘We will see you’.

I replied, ‘make sure you put your spectacles on’; and the fight continues.